1853/2 $20 MS61 PCGS. Breen-7162. See the excellent close-up
in Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of United States
Coins for the details of this overdate. Walter Breen claims
discovery of this variety in January 1959, but it was not widely
publicized until Ted Clark wrote about it in the January 7, 1981
issue of Coin World. The lower part of the diagonal of the
previous 2 is visible within the lower opening of the 3. Minute
traces of doubling is visible within the 5, but his is from a
slightly different shaped 5, which Breen attributed to part of the
1852 logotype. A dull raised lump is visible beneath the R of
LIBERTY. Short, nearly vertical file lines are visible at the
border outside star 13. A few other file lines slant down to the
right from the border near stars 1 and 2. The A of STATES has a
broken and partially patched crossbar. All of these characteristics
of the earliest die states identify this piece as the truly
important overdate variety. This example is fully lustrous and
quite well-defined. Slight weakness is visible within the hair on
the obverse as almost always for the Type One Double Eagles. Stars
11, 12, and 13 are similarly weak with only partial central detail.
All design elements on the reverse appear to be fully or almost
fully defined. The surfaces have frosty yellow luster with a hint
of green coloration. This is a splendid example that will delight
even the most advanced collector. Prior to this offering, we had
only handled two Mint State examples of this variety, one in our
January 2004 FUN Auction and the other in our 2005 ANA Sale.(#8909)
(Registry
values: N7079) (NGC ID# 268M, PCGS# 8909)